2014 Belgian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton said he lost time on his laps during the final part of qualifying due to a problem with one of his front brakes.

Hamilton said the brake had glazed over, which can happen in low temperatures if they become too cool, causing them to lose efficiency.

“I had a glazed front-right or front-left brake so the car was pulling to the left, or to the right,” said Hamilton after qualifying second behind team mate Nico Rosberg.

“There was nothing I could do on the out-laps to try and get rid of that. So I was struggling on the braking, I had to bring the braking point a little bit further back, and I was losing massive amounts, particularly turn one.”

Rosberg came out on top in a rain-affected qualifying session to take his fourth pole position in a row by two-tenths of a second.

“It’s one of the most special tracks of the year so to be in front here is great,” he said. “Not quite as difficult out there as on some other occasions because the conditions were always pretty much intermediate, just varying slightly, so that made it a bit easier today.”

“But still it’s always difficult on this track in the wet so I’m really happy. The car was handling well together with my engineers we really fine-tuned it perfectly in qualifying and really got there in the end so in the end I was really feeling comfortable.”

You’re completely right. The Sky side-by-side comparison showed that Hamilton was actually a lot faster through many parts of the track. Rosberg was pulling it back in the slow corners. Regardless, it was Rosberg’s better line in the last two corners got him pole. Not sure how much how much Hamilton’s glazed breaks was responsible for loosing him time in the slow corners though… late breaking is usually his expertise.

To be honest, I support both drivers, but to me Rosberg was “a little lucky in getting pole”. The comparison in the sky pad showed that Hamilton was ahead until the final exit of the bus stop chicane.. I am just glad that Lewis’ car didn’t brake down today because WE GOT A FIGHT FOR TOMORROW! BRING ON THE SHOWDOWN!!! :P

I’m not buying it, notice how Hamilton couldn’t decide which way the car was pulling. Instead of living in denial he needs to sort out his mistakes, P2 is far from the end of the world, that’s why if I were him is fully prepare my car for long run pace.

Why would he make up having a problem? Why would he report a fake problem to the team? I can understand making up a problem to the press (I don’t think he did), but why would he mention it in a radio to the team if he knew it to be his mistake. Look at the previous mistakes Hamilton makes in qualifying. He usually owns up to all of them.

No one said he had a problem, he was just struggling to get both brakes up to temp consistently. So I assume one brake was colder than the other. And to answer your question at the last chicane he braked earlier given that he locked up in stavelot

Brake pad glazing is caused when the brake pad friction material is overheated.
This results in crystallized friction material on the pad surface and the brake disc.
Typical symptoms of glazed brake pads include: Poor stopping performance, vibration or brake judder, and cracks or fissures in the brake pad material.
Pad glazing is typically caused by operating the brake pads at a temperature above the specified temperature range of the friction material or not properly following the ‘Bedding-in’ instructions for the brake pads. Always follow the manufacturers brake pad bedding-in instructions and use a brake pad that has a temperature range that is sufficient for its intended use.

@bforth I’m not going to get nitpicky about whether the fault is the system or Hamilton. I’m going to ask why Nico hasn’t had as many brake issues as Hamilton throughout the season?

And people can say “you can’t blame Hamilton for the problem with the car not being set up to his style!” and I will reply with “then Raikkonen is the best driver and the Ferrari just isn’t designed for him!”

@neiana Fair question and a tough call really. The problem could be that his driving style is too hard on the brakes. Hamilton likes his rear brake bias. That leaves less pressure on the front brakes and could cause the front discs to spin just a little bit more freely resulting in more friction and stress.

Nico and Lewis also use different brake suppliers, so it could simply be that Nico’s supplier makes more durable brakes. Again, I don’t have the data, nor am I a world class engineer, so take that with a grain of salt.

What I do know is sometimes one driver has more luck with reliability than their team mate. Nelson Piquet won the 1987 World Championship largely because he had better reliability than Nigel Mansell. It happens.

Don’t let that take anything away from Rosberg though. He is definitely proving himself a world class driver, and Hamilton has made some costly mistakes this year.

And, since you brought it up, Kimi is in fact driving a car built for Alonso. The driving styles of those two couldn’t be much more different, so that is a big part of the gap. However, Fernando is more dedicated to his fitness, would kill for a third world championship, and reportedly spends a lot more time at the factory, so that also contributes to the gap. That’s all pretty straightforward.

Glazing is when the brake pad surface ends up coated in crystallised friction material, affecting their stopping ability. It is usually caused when they have not been brought up to temperature properly.

“Glazing is when the brake pad surface ends up coated in crystallised friction material, affecting their stopping ability. It is usually caused when they have not been brought up to temperature properly.”

Sky UK did a side-by-side comparison of the two laps and Hamilton made up the 0.3 or so he lost in turn 1 back up in Eau Rouge and Kemmel such was his aggressiveness. The second mistake was the killer, but Hamilton looked much faster. All this result does is ensure a titanic battle tomorrow!

Yeah im sure lol. Im sure if Ros had a good first corner like he did Ham would not gain it back just through Eou Rouge with Kemmel straight after if his wing was high. If Ham has more wing as you say Ros should be beating him by alot tommorow, no? Also wouldn’t Ham be better under breakng with more wing aswell.

I’m not too sure it’s as black and white as that, the more wing will allow Lewis to catch up in q2 and get in DRS for the back straight. That draft along with the DRS will give Hamilton more straight line speed.

ya its not a reliability issue, its just result of not managing brakes properly, like brundle said on Skyf1 when hamilton was little too slow before start of the lap predicted might have brake issues at the first corner due to cold brakes, just another mistake. Even so, in side-by-side comparison they were too close all the way until last corner where rosberg was better and pulled ahead.

I thought glazed braking issue would refer to a driver having his two brakes on different temperatures ( too hot and too cold). That happens in qualifying. It’s not a mechanical gremlin is it?
Can’t LH accept he was beaten once? Yes he’s quick, very quick, he murdered Kovaleinen and Button, beat ALonso 9-8, beat Rosberg last year, but He’s 4-6 down now and has failed to outqualify his team mate since May.
Looks to be a good race tomorrow, the Williams and Force India with their straight line speed and Alonso on the Red Bulls. Not to forget the first time NR and LH are on the front row since Canada.

even if hamiltons excuse is valid, hamilton must realise he was the still not fast enough on his next 2 attempts for pole. Hamilton made a noticeable mistake on final attempt, he let his brakes get cold by slowing down at final chicane too much instead of progressively slowing down a few corners earlier, he then made a mistake into turn one because of that. the initial error might be driver related too, not “glazed brake”, we will never know.

Jeez you guys are real Richards about him being honest as to the problem. A problem which may have been of his own causing, but I’d rather he talk about the issue than not. Cut him some slack! (coming from an Alonso supporter)